I tried to print LICORICE.

In this video I try to 3D print licorice laces (dropveters) with the extruder I designed. It managed to print the worlds most flexible filament, so I decided to step it up a notch!

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The equipment I mostly use:
FDM printers:

Resin printers:

The software and sites I use:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:27 Start trying
2:47 Experimental idea
3:52 Bee roll
4:22 Squarespace
5:21 Testing the idea
7:02 Optimizing the extruder
8:07 Cheating
8:33 What to take away from this?

[properprinting]

This is a typical example of a project that was doomed to fail. In the past I never attempted to start an idea like this at all or quit too early because I felt stupid trying it anyway. With 3D printing you can afford failed attempts and these turned out to be very valuable to me. Keep on experimenting guys!

[lhpl]

Brilliant! At first I thought this was an April fool's video I had missed.

Disclaimer: I know very little about 3D printing and materials science; but I do love licorice. (As do most Danes.)
Anyway. Other comments have been mentioning the melting point of sugar, and suggesting even higher temperatures. I think this is missing an important property of licorice laces. Candies are generally divided into two categories: hard and soft. Hard candies are mostly sugar in a crystalline form with flavoring, very hard and brittle. This includes caramelised sugar. To make soft candy, you have to mix in water. To prevent the moist result from being a sticky mess, binder additives are added, such as gum arabic, gelatin, and flour or starch. Controlling the water content is essential for getting the correct softness. The French cooking guy Alex has some videos where he attempts making dried pasta, which is just wheat flour and water. It is probably a similar process that is used in manufacturing licorice. Starting out with a very soft paste of higher water content, then extruding the lace and immediately drying it down to the final water content level and then coating with wax to prevent it from drying further until consumption.
By heating it beyond 100°C you simply dry it out more, making it a hard and brittle substance, like a dry and crumbling cake. You either have to start with the "wet" paste and calibrate the heating process to dry it to the right water content, or just above and then "harden" the finished print in an oven. Or use a candy that is more thermoplastic, either by using something different (soft caramel might work), or by somehow _adding_ water to the licorice to make it softer. And it is probably completely counterproductive to heat it beyond 100°C. For hair removal, there is a method called "sugaring or sugar waxing", which basically uses a lump of caramel with just enough moisture to be kneaded like a dough and stick just enough when heated to 45-50°C I guess. (Fairly hot, but not too hot to handle or apply to the skin.) My guess is that this could be in the ballpark of working temperature for licorice paste also. Thermoplasticising may be easier with fat-based confectionary like chocolate, but chocolate of course isn't elastic, it just becomes liquid when heated, and will act more like a resin.

[cullyn]

"The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down. "

Id say documenting it on video is just as good as writing it down!

[baraBober]

Hey man, here's an idea for you! If you manage to pull it off, you'll revolutionize 3d printing industry.
Make an extruder that would use chopped up plastic (old prints or plastic bottles perhaps) instead of filament. I imagine there would be a small container that would hold a small amount of molten plastic, and a "piston" of some sort that would regulate the pressure inside it. It really would be a game changer, plus it would help to recycle

[michal_king]

That extruder design looks awesome. Will probably make one myself

[wktodd]

"we choose to do these things... Not because they are easy, but because they are hard '

[jakemeyer]

This is why the internet exists. I'm seriously thankful you gave this a shot!

[gremlin]

what if you cool the licorice down before inserting it? will it not get stiffer and not break so easy

[andresandia]

Hi Jón this is Andres from Peru, we met at MRRF this year, now I can confirm you DO like licorice, greetings from Peru and keep up doing this crazy content!!

[DMusketeers]

OMG it was licorice! you are a freaking mad lad!

Great progress! Keep it up! I know this frustration, going through it myself on a project! There is light at the end of the tunnel, now let's hope it is not another train coming right at us LOL

[ericlotze]

I feel like this is a challenge now; SOMEONE has to do it.

Seems frustrating as hell, and mostly useless short of bragging rights, so 100% valid in moving on.

(Currently struggling to put a 3D Printer Kit together myself, let alone *design a custom extruder* ! )

[klschofield]

Success or fail makes no difference to me, I'm here to enjoy the show. Thanks for all the wonderful edutainment. Sorry I missed you at MRRF022.

[jantofthansen]

Bowden tubing is also used in pneumatik actuaters

[Juhsga]

I love your design and your efforts! I just subscribed and interested in what you come up with for the future! Something I thought about today and something you might want to explore, is methods to save electricity when using your FDM printer. Maybe you can come up with a battery powered from solar to directly powers the printer components, change the heating elements out for something more efficient, experiment with enclosures and see if you can save by storing heat, etc. If anyone can figure it out, I believe you can!

[FormFutura_BV]

We're sorry to put you through the pain and effort, but in the end we are glad we did!

[BeefIngot]

perhaps you could get the licorice out of the ptfe tube using traditional filament and a Bowden extruder where the regular filament, with a flat end would act as a piston.

[Btmn]

Great experiment and I love your approach towards devopment!

Funny thing i thought i would mention:
My uncle actually extrude silicone hoses and plastics with an old extruding pellet machine, He has also made licorice with this machine with he's own recipe! maybe you'll need to have the licorice filament in a "raw liqorice"-state before it heats up and solidifies/crystalize?

[arminth]

Jon,
try Haribo Lakritzschnecken. At least, they nicely split in two seperate strings! If that fails, you may consider (guess what? )



Kartoffelsalat

or

Bratwurst! 😁

Both will not be suitable for extruding but you knew that with licorice in the first place!

Keep on trying!

[--Nath--]

Here you are answering the questions no one knew they needed to ask.

[ZacharyDPrints]

Oh wow, it's a great idea! Just like the Rim... You'll succeed